IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jcjust/v95y2024ics0047235224001636.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The effects of Covid-19 stay-at-home orders on street and cybercrimes in a Brazilian city

Author

Listed:
  • Goncalves, Vitor S.
  • Stafford, Mark C.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic led public officials to impose stay-at-home orders, dramatically changing individuals' routine activities. With people spending more time at home, opportunities for street crimes were expected to decrease, while cybercrimes were expected to increase. This study examines the effects of stay-at-home orders on police reports of street crimes (theft, auto theft, residential burglary, and robbery) and cybercrimes (online fraud) in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. We utilized ARIMA Interrupted Time Series models, incorporating weekly data from 2017 to 2022. The findings largely supported the hypothesis for street crimes, particularly theft and auto theft. These crimes, which often occur in crowded areas and during events, had a significant decrease due to reduced public gatherings resulting from the orders. However, the orders did not significantly impact robberies and residential burglaries, possibly indicating that offenders quickly found new opportunities. Contrary to expectations, the orders did not lead to an increase in cybercrimes. According to routine activity theory, crime occurs when motivated offenders, suitable targets, and the absence of capable guardians converge in time and space. However, the digital realm challenges this prediction due to the disruption of traditional notions of time and space.

Suggested Citation

  • Goncalves, Vitor S. & Stafford, Mark C., 2024. "The effects of Covid-19 stay-at-home orders on street and cybercrimes in a Brazilian city," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jcjust:v:95:y:2024:i:c:s0047235224001636
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2024.102314
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047235224001636
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2024.102314?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Balmori de la Miyar, Jose Roberto & Hoehn-Velasco, Lauren & Silverio-Murillo, Adan, 2021. "Druglords don’t stay at home: COVID-19 pandemic and crime patterns in Mexico City," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    2. Daniel Montolio & Simón Planells-Struse, 2019. "Measuring the negative externalities of a private leisure activity: hooligans and pickpockets around the stadium," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 19(2), pages 465-504.
    3. Amy E. Nivette & Renee Zahnow & Raul Aguilar & Andri Ahven & Shai Amram & Barak Ariel & María José Arosemena Burbano & Roberta Astolfi & Dirk Baier & Hyung-Min Bark & Joris E. H. Beijers & Marcelo Ber, 2021. "A global analysis of the impact of COVID-19 stay-at-home restrictions on crime," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 5(7), pages 868-877, July.
    4. Hodgkinson, Tarah & Andresen, Martin A., 2020. "Show me a man or a woman alone and I'll show you a saint: Changes in the frequency of criminal incidents during the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    5. Hipp, John R. & Kim, Young-An, 2019. "Explaining the temporal and spatial dimensions of robbery: Differences across measures of the physical and social environment," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1-12.
    6. Callum Jones & Thomas Philippon & Venky Venkateswaran, 2021. "Optimal Mitigation Policies in a Pandemic: Social Distancing and Working from Home [A simple planning problem for covid-19 lockdown]," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(11), pages 5188-5223.
    7. Anika Seufert & Fabian Poignée & Tobias Hoßfeld & Michael Seufert, 2022. "Pandemic in the digital age: analyzing WhatsApp communication behavior before, during, and after the COVID-19 lockdown," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-9, December.
    8. Mohler, George & Bertozzi, Andrea L. & Carter, Jeremy & Short, Martin B. & Sledge, Daniel & Tita, George E. & Uchida, Craig D. & Brantingham, P. Jeffrey, 2020. "Impact of social distancing during COVID-19 pandemic on crime in Los Angeles and Indianapolis," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Frith, Michael J. & Bowers, Kate J. & Johnson, Shane D., 2022. "Household occupancy and burglary: A case study using COVID-19 restrictions," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    2. Carlos Díaz & Sebastian Fossati & Nicolás Trajtenberg, 2022. "Stay at home if you can: COVID‐19 stay‐at‐home guidelines and local crime," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(4), pages 1067-1113, December.
    3. Hong, Sunmin & Jeong, Dohyo & Kim, Pyung, 2024. "Have offender demographics changed since the COVID-19 pandemic? Evidence from money mules in South Korea," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    4. Lydia Cheung & Philip Gunby, 2023. "The Initial and Dynamic Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Crime in New Zealand," Working Papers in Economics 23/03, University of Canterbury, Department of Economics and Finance.
    5. Langton, Samuel & Dixon, Anthony & Farrell, Graham, 2021. "Small area variation in crime effects of COVID-19 policies in England and Wales," SocArXiv cw6a4, Center for Open Science.
    6. Jun Zhuo & Mengmeng Hao & Fangyu Ding & Jiping Dong & Dong Jiang & Shuai Chen, 2024. "The spatiotemporal patterns and driving factors of cybercrime in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-10, December.
    7. Amy E. Nivette & Renee Zahnow & Raul Aguilar & Andri Ahven & Shai Amram & Barak Ariel & María José Arosemena Burbano & Roberta Astolfi & Dirk Baier & Hyung-Min Bark & Joris E. H. Beijers & Marcelo Ber, 2021. "A global analysis of the impact of COVID-19 stay-at-home restrictions on crime," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 5(7), pages 868-877, July.
    8. Johnson, Shane & Nikolovska, Manja, 2022. "The effect of COVID-19 restrictions on routine activities and online crime," SocArXiv ze49b, Center for Open Science.
    9. Langton, Samuel & Dixon, Anthony & Farrell, Graham, 2021. "Small area variation in crime effects of COVID-19 policies in England and Wales," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    10. Hodgkinson, Tarah & Andresen, Martin A. & Frank, Richard & Pringle, Darren, 2022. "Crime down in the Paris of the prairies: Spatial effects of COVID-19 and crime during lockdown in Saskatoon, Canada," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    11. Balmori de la Miyar, Jose Roberto & Hoehn-Velasco, Lauren & Silverio-Murillo, Adan, 2021. "Druglords don’t stay at home: COVID-19 pandemic and crime patterns in Mexico City," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    12. Langton, Samuel & Dixon, Anthony & Farrell, Graham, 2021. "Small area variation in crime effects of COVID-19 policies in England and Wales," SocArXiv cw6a4_v1, Center for Open Science.
    13. Ejrnæs, Anders & Scherg, Rune H., 2022. "Nightlife activity and crime: The impact of COVID-19 related nightlife restrictions on violent crime," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    14. Yichen Shen & Rong Fu & Haruko Noguchi, 2021. "COVID‐19's Lockdown and Crime Victimization: The State of Emergency under the Abe Administration," Asian Economic Policy Review, Japan Center for Economic Research, vol. 16(2), pages 327-348, July.
    15. Lin Liu & Jiayu Chang & Dongping Long & Heng Liu, 2022. "Analyzing the Impact of COVID-19 Lockdowns on Violent Crime," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-10, November.
    16. Johnson, Shane & Nikolovska, Manja, 2022. "The effect of COVID-19 restrictions on routine activities and online crime," SocArXiv ze49b_v1, Center for Open Science.
    17. Kandaswamy Paramasivan & Rahul Subburaj & Saish Jaiswal & Nandan Sudarsanam, 2022. "Empirical evidence of the impact of mobility on property crimes during the first two waves of the COVID-19 pandemic," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-14, December.
    18. Carter, Travis M. & Turner, Noah D., 2021. "Examining the immediate effects of COVID-19 on residential and commercial burglaries in Michigan: An interrupted time-series analysis," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    19. Matthew Valasik & Shannon E. Reid, 2021. "“The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same”: Research on Gang-Related Violence in the 21st Century—Introduction to Special Issue," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-5, June.
    20. Santiago Tobón Zapata & Nathalie Alvarado & Ervyn Norza & Santiago M. Perez-Vincent & Martín Vanegas-Arias, 2021. "The Evolution of Citizen Security in Colombia in Times of COVID-19," Documentos de Trabajo de Valor Público 19673, Universidad EAFIT.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jcjust:v:95:y:2024:i:c:s0047235224001636. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jcrimjus .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.